Fairlawn was one of about a dozen cottages erected
as part of the initial development of Bellevue Avenue
during the 1850s. This three-story brick and wood frame
structure built for Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Ritchie of Boston
is as well known for its history as its design. Wrought
iron gates and a mosaic-tiled floor at the front entrance
lead to the Great Hall with its beautiful carved staircase.
The dining room, paneled in dark carved wood under an
ornamental ceiling, was used to seat up to 100 guests.
Benjamin Harrison's Vice President, Levi P. Morton, bought
the property in the late 1860s and commissioned Richard
Morris Hunt, designer of Ochre Court, to build a ballroom
on the south side. The room, with its mirrored panels
and frescoes above the double doorway, was added in 1870
expressly for the visit of Ulysses S. Grant shortly after
he became President.
In 1881, the firm of McKim, Mead and White designed second story family rooms
over the ballroom. It was during this period of renovation that the stained glass
Tiffany windows were added to the Great Hall. I. Townsend Burden bought the house
nine years later and commissioned Peabody and Stearns to design a curved porch.
Fairlawn remained a private residence until the 1920s. It has served as a preparatory
school and a junior college and was returned to residential use after the 1960s.
Acquired by the university in 1997 to house the Pell Center for International
Relations and Public Policy, it has recently been restored and renamed in memory
of Newport residents and longtime benefactors Anita O'Keeffe Young and Robert
R. Young. The university received the Newport Historical Society's Historic Preservation
Award in 1999 for the restoration of this building.
